I’ve had a cup of coffee, and I’ve bundled up in layers, but I just can’t shake this feeling of being cold. I can hardly speak sense. My mind is gone.

Is this the end? Has winter finally driven me mad?

A quick look through The Fridge reveals a couple of barley wine brews that I’m sure will warm me up. And Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot looks just about right. It has an 11.1% ABV, and it’s been stored at 60 degrees — I’m not even going to chill it. I’m just too cold as it is.

Blithering Idiot pours a cloudy, dark amber into a tulip glass. A finger of mocha-foam leaps up to join the party and then sneaks away, as if afraid of offending the host.

It smells sweet and raisin-like, with hint of burnt sugar. Perhaps I’m becoming a blithering idiot myself, because what forms in my mind is the phrase “citrus crème brulée”.

First sip . . . Far better than I expected. Warm is the way to drink this beer — I can’t imagine the flavors coming across well cold. The first sip is of sweet malt, with brown sugar and toffee. This is an English-style barley wine — hardly any hoppy bitterness.

The Weyerbacher website suggests aging this beer, but there’s no date on the bottle. And that’s okay, because as I sip it, I grow less and less concerned about such minor details. Also, the piles of snow outside seem less worrisome.

What’s that I’m feeling? Could it be my toes? Yes, there’s warmth in my body again — I’m going to credit the beer, but cranking the heat up in my house probably didn’t hurt either.

The syrupy Blithering Idiot hit the spot tonight, but I’m not sure that I’d drink it very often. Barley wines are special occasion beers, so perhaps I’ll wait until the special occasion when I wind up in Easton, PA and visit the Weyerbacher brewery.

Last sip — and yes, I still feel like a blithering idiot. But it’s decidedly more pleasant to be a WARM blithering idiot. Cheers!